Browsing Category

Health

Friday Fare, Health, Healthy on the cheap

Bircher Muesli: Honestly Fitness Version

March 19, 2015

Being a part of the general health and fitness community, bircher muesli isn’t a new recipe for me. However, I sometimes have to take a step back and realize that just because I know about it doesn’t necessarily mean that everyone else knows about it. I wanted to share this bircher muesli recipe with you because I have been having it regularly for the past few weeks and think it is a brilliant and healthy breakfast!

The History of Bircher Muesli

The creation of bircher muesli has been credited with the Swiss physician Maximilian Bircher-Benner in the early 1900s. He created it for his patients whose therapy included plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, which sounds very sensible to me! As the story goes, he was apparently inspired by a dish he had received when he and his wife hiked the Swiss Alps.

The Original Bircher Muesli Recipe

The original bircher muesli recipe is said to be made up of rolled oats, lemon juice, sweetened condensed milk or cream, grated apple and topped with hazelnuts or almonds. It was also advised to soak the oats overnight, which is a practice I still do with my oats today. The idea behind soaking your oats comes from the desire to decrease the phytic acid in oats. because a decrease in phytic acid through soaking of oats allows for better mineral absorption. For a pretty intense peer-reviewed article regarding this, click here.

Honestly Fitness’ Bircher Muesli Recipe

In an effort to lower the fat content and calories of the original bircher muesli recipe, my bircher muesli recipe makes some simple swaps and additions. I have found that the combination of the ingredients I use create a delicious bircher muesli that is satisfying to eat, keeps you full for hours and is packed with vitamins and minerals, and healthy portions of complex carbohydrates, healthy fats and protein. A perfect addition for an active lifestyle because remember; healthy eating and exercise go hand in hand 🙂

Bircher Muesli Recipe

Honestly Fitness Bircher Muesli

Alice Williams
A delicious and nutrient packed breakfast which can be made the night before. Just grab the jar and go in the morning!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
  

  • Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup 2% milk or your choice of milk
  • 1/2 cup raspberries
  • 1 tbsp sliced almonds or nut of choice
  • 1 tsp ground flax seeds
  • 1 tsp chia seeds
  • 1 tsp hemp seeds or pumpkin seeds
  • Juice of half a small lemon

OPTIONAL

  • 1/2 scoop of vanilla or chocolate protein powder
  • Matcha green tea powder

Instructions
 

  • Simply mix together all the ingredients (EXCEPT for the Greek yogurt) and then store in a jar overnight. In the morning, enjoy it cold or slightly warmed up and top with Greek yogurt and anything else you wish!

Notes

For the bircher muesli in this photo, I used hemp milk to soak the oats!
Adapted from Original Bircher Muesli Recipe

What’s Your Verdict?

Let me know if you make this bircher muesli recipe and how it turned out for you! I absolutely love hearing your feedback and it is assuring to know that other people are enjoying the foods that I love eating. 

What is your usual go-to breakfast?

Honestly yours,
Alice

Thank you for always supporting me! For more Honestly Fitness, check out my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest, and don’t forget to subscribe to my newsletter!

Health, Kayla Itsines

Review of Kayla Itsines HELP Guide

March 16, 2015

Way back in June, 2014, I did a review of Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide. At the time, I had not used Kayla Itsines’ HELP guide alongside her workouts so I had not formulated much of an opinion over them. I re-did Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide and I am now on week 10 of my third round of Kayla Itsines Bikini Body Guide. I have to say that there was a huge difference when I used both guides in conjunction, which is why I decided to write a review of Kayla Itsines HELP guide for you all.

What is Kayla Itsines ‘HELP’ Guide?

First things first, what is the HELP guide? HELP stands for ‘Healthy Eating Lifestyle Plan’ and it’s a comprehensive guide to healthy eating that includes a two week meal plan with sample healthy recipes. 

photo 2

The HELP guide starts off by providing a 14 day meal plan, which is full of delicious and easy to make meals. The only meals that didn’t really work for me were the juices (as I do not have a juicer) but they can be easily adapted to make something else which is explained in the discussion of food groups. Apart from the juices, all the meals in the HELP guide are easy to make and use normal ingredients such as chicken, brown rice, spinach, apples and etc. No fancy or expensive ingredients 🙂

The HELP guide then discusses the five food groups and the minimum amount you should be getting per day. The amazing thing about this guide is that it advocates carbohydrates! Such a rarity in the health and fitness world and one of its key selling points, in my opinion. There is also NO calorie counting in this guide despite what some may claim. Kayla acknowledges that this is a guide and that everyone has different needs, but that the HELP guide is a fantastic guide, especially for someone who does not know how to eat in a healthy manner. The rest of the HELP guide provides a wealth of information such as information about food allergies, micronutrients (vitamins & minerals), and FAQs with questions such as ‘Should I be eating the meals at particular times?’ or ‘Don’t I have to avoid carbs in order to lose weight?’

My Thoughts

As someone who has come from a background of counting calories and macro’s in the past, the HELP guide is truly a breath of fresh air. I feel like it provides a healthy and sustainable guide to healthy eating that will keep you full and satisfied. Since using the HELP guide in conjunction with the bikini body guides, I have lost 8 pounds so far 🙂 I still have a ways to go in terms of getting more toned and etc, but I feel so much closer to my goals with the help of the HELP guide! I also found that eating more carbohydrates helped me perform better in my workouts, whereas previously if I had tried to restrict my carbohydrate intake, I felt so weak and sluggish :/ The following are some of the lovely recipes I have made using the information given in the HELP guide 🙂

Pancake edit2 (1 of 1)

 Four Ingredient Pancakes with Raspberries

  Lox (1 of 1)-2

 Lox Salmon with Creamy Lemon Dressing

IMG_2683

 Baked Zucchini Fritters with Smashed Avocado on Marble Rye Toast

Even more HELP

Kayla Itsines recently released a new recipe guide that is designed to work with the principles laid out in the HELP guide. I bought it because I was curious and love the variety of easy to make yet delicious looking recipes contained within it! It contained a whole two weeks worth of recipes. I actually made the ‘pizza’ recipe from the new recipe guide and was surprised at how well the pizza base came out. Really pleased and excited to make more of the recipes from this new guide. Plus, it is only AUD$19.97 which comes out to roughly USD$15 which is not that much money at all. photo 1

What are your thoughts?

Do you have the HELP guide and/or the new recipe guide? If so, what do you think about it? I hope this review of Kayla Itsines HELP guide and recipe guide has helped you and cleared up any questions you may have regarding them.

If you want to buy either of the above guides, simply click here and you will be redirected to Kayla Itsines’ website 🙂

Honestly yours,

Alice

Thank you for always supporting me! For more Honestly Fitness, check out my Instagram, Facebook, Twitter & Pinterest.

Although this post contains affiliate links, it is because I personally use Kayla’s guides and believe you will benefit from them 🙂